Truck.



UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE,

JAMES H. I-IARTZELL, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

TRUCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 637,867, dated November28, 1899.

Application filed April 1Q, 1899. Serial No. 712,409. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES H. HARTZELL, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State ofOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trucks, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is a truck which may be changed readily froma two-wheeled or hand truck, in which form the front axle is rigid, to afour-wheeled truck, in which the front axle is free to turn in ahorizontal plane, the change to be accomplished by the swinging forwardof the bail, which in the forward position serves as a thill for thefour-wheeled truck. This object is attained by the means described inthe annexed specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a truck embodying myinvention, the bail being thrown back as it is when the device is usedas a twowheeled truck. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same upon anenlarged scale. Fig. 3 is a detail side elevation, the rearpart of thetruck and the bail being broken 0%. Fig. 4 is a similar view with thebail thrown forward as when it is used as a four-wheeled truck. Fig. 5is a detail sectional view through line :1: a; of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is asimilar View taken when the bail is thrown forward as in Fig. 4, showingthe means of limiting the rotation of the front axle. Fig. 7 is a detailview showing one of the swinging standards in its raised position.

Referring to the parts, which are indicated by similar reference-letterswherever they occur throughout the various views, the frame A is similarto that of an ordinary truck and consists of side beams a, turned attheir ends into handles a and connected by braces a and having at itsforward end a nose a Secured between the front brace a and a metalcross-bar b, which is secured to the under side of the cross-beams a,and passing downwardly through a central perforation in the bar I) is apin 6, upon the lower projecting end of which is swiveled a hanger bwhich has downwardly-proj ecting arms which terminate in perforatedbosses o and 12 in which is journaled the front axle B, which hascollars O and C secured to it by set-screws or rivets. These collarshave teeth or detents c and c, which enter depressions in the collarsand b to limit the rotation of the axle B, to each of whose endsangle-levers D D are secured by set-screws d. Between the bosses d and dof the levers and the collars b and b", secured to the axle near itsends, the front wheels 17 and b of the truck are j ournaled. Theanglelevers D D are connected by a cross-rod d and at their upper endsare pivoted to the arms 6 and 6', respectively, of the bail E. Near theforward ends of the arms a and e are short arms 6 to pass over studs Fand lock the bail when it is thrown back. The studs F pass through theside beams a and have nuts f and f upon theirinner screw-threaded ends.

WVhen the bail is thrown back and locked, its arms 6 and (2, bearingfirmly against the side beams a, hold the levers D D, the hanger b, andthe axle B rigid, and the device may then be used as a two-wheeled orhand truck. When the bail is thrown forward, the anglelevers D D descendfree of the side beams to the position shown in Fig. 4, further motionto ward the ground being checked by the detents c 0 bearing against thewalls of the depressions in the collars b and b, as shown in Fig. 6. Thehanger b, and with it the axle B, being now free to rotate in ahorizontal plane, the truck may be used as a four-wheeled truck, restingupon the front wheels I) and b and the rear wheels G G and drawn forwardor pushed backward by the bail E as a thill.

When used as a four-wheeled truck, the swinging standards a (shown inthe lowered position in Fig. 1) may be raised, as shown in Fig. 7, toprevent rails or whatever may be piled upon the truck from sliding offof it.

What I claim is 1. In an interchangeable two or four wheeled truck thecombination of the frame, wheels secured to the rear end thereof, ahanger swiveled to the forward end thereof, the axle journaled therein,the wheels journaled upon the axle, the levers secured to the ends ofthe axle and the bail pivoted thereto which, when thrown backward, holdsthe hanger rigid and when thrown forward releases the hanger,substantially as shown and described.

2. In a truck the combination of the frame, the hanger swiveled to thefront end thereof, the front axle journaled in the hanger,wheelsjournaled upon the axle, levers secured to the ends of the axle and thebail pivoted to the ends of the levers, which in its backward positionbears against the sides of the frame and holds the hanger rigid,substantially as shown and described.

In a truck the combination of the frame, the cross-bar secured at itsforward end, the pin passing through the cross-bar, the hanger swiveledthereon, the front axle journaled in the hanger, the collars secured tothe axle, the detents fitting in depressions in the hanger to limit therotation of the axle, the wheels journaled upon the axle, theangle-levers secured upon the ends thereof, the bail pivoted to the endsof the levers bearing in its backward position against the sides of theframe and holding the front axle rigid and in its forward positionreleasing the hanger, and the wheels secured to the rear of the frame,substantially as shown and described.

4. In an interchangeable two or four wheeled truck the combination ofthe frame,the hanger swiveled to the forward end of the frame, the axlejournaled therein, the wheels journaled upon the axle, levers secured tothe ends of the axle, the bail pivoted thereto which when thrownbackward holds the hanger rigid and when thrown forward releases thehanger, the wheels secured to the rear of the frame and the swingingstandards pivoted to the rear ends of the side beams, substantially asshown and described.

JAMES H. I-IARTZELL.

Witnesses:

WALTER F. MURRAY, GEO. J. MURRAY.

